Michele Padovano recounts the ordeal he endured due to a miscarriage of justice: arrested on charges of financing an international drug trafficking ring, he was imprisoned until his acquittal in January 2023.
The former Juventus striker said in an interview with La Gazzetta dello Sport: “It was absolutely hell, especially because I always knew I was innocent and completely unconnected to the events. I fought for seventeen years against an injustice; prison took my life away from me, and now I’ve got it back. For me, the acquittal is worth as much as winning the Champions League.”
"The hardest moment? There were many, probably solitary confinement. Spending many days without seeing anyone makes you feel lost. It’s a feeling hard to put into words; it feels as though time never passes. What’s more, my wife was also under investigation at the time — though the case was dropped after seven months — and we couldn’t even call each other. Finally, the way the guards treated me: it was really tough. I think it was partly because I was a footballer. One prison guard told me, ‘You can shove your money up your arse now.’ Things from another world. The police addressed me informally, treating me like a doormat. They tried to trample on my dignity from the very first moment.”
